


About Last Night

by the_huffster



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Angst, Drunk!Giles, F/M, Post Chosen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_huffster/pseuds/the_huffster
Summary: Giles has a better way of spending his first New Year's Eve alone than at the Council's New Year's Eve party watching his ex-girlfriend with another man.





	About Last Night

The sound of his neighbors' New Years Eve party could be faintly heard as Rupert Giles walked into his flat. He loosened his tie and dropped his keys on to the hallway table before toeing off his shoes. He'd put the dress shoes away in the morning. Right now, Giles needed a way to preoccupy himself.

He immediately went for his liquor cabinet and grabbed the first bottle of scotch he saw. Giles walked over to the coffee table and set the bottle down. He took a minute to look around his empty flat before heading to the kitchen to get an empty glass. The Watcher made his way back to the living room and sat on the couch, pouring himself a glass of scotch.

This wasn't how Giles imagined he'd be spending his New Years. He had actually thought he'd be at the Council's headquarters like everyone else he knew, and he had been there enjoying the last night of the year. Then he'd seen Buffy, with one of the Watchers that had joined the Council since the reconstruction. That's when the first drink had happened. Giles had told himself that seeing Buffy with someone else wouldn't bother him, that enough time had passed. But that had not been the case when he saw the Slayer with the young man. After two more drinks and continuing to see Buffy happy with someone else, Giles called it a night and left without anyone noticing.

He could easily get drunk in his own home without the worry of embarrassing himself in front of his friends and colleagues. At least that's what he told himself. He would never admit that he left to get away from Buffy. He didn't needed to be reminded that she was happier without him, especially a few days away from what would have been their third anniversary.

"Nothing like the holidays to prove you wrong," he muttered as he downed the glass.

He winced slightly, more for show than anything, as he swallowed the liquid. Giles sighed softly and leaned forward to pour another glass. The bottle was fairly full and he had every intention of finishing it, or trying to, before he fell asleep. With no work to worry about the next day, he didn't need to be cautious about avoiding a hangover. He had told his second in command that he wouldn't be in the office the next day and, with the exception of world ending news, did not want to be bothered.

He looked at his freshly poured glass as he listened to the muffled sounds of his partying neighbors. And if the audio contrast between the two flats didn't make him feel his age, then he didn't know what would. He shook his head and drained half the glass. Giles' eyes found the clock on the wall to his left.

9:35pm. He just wanted to make it to the New Year before calling it quits for the night. Finishing the rest of his drink, he quickly poured another.

Drinking alone wasn't the greatest way to bring in the New Year, but it was something he was use to. Sadly.

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10:25pm.

Giles looked at the one-third full bottle of scotch and eyed the nearly empty glass. He rubbed his face and slumped forward, lazily reaching for the bottle. He blinked a few times and focused on pouring the amber liquid into the glass, giggling a few times when some spilled on to his hand.

"Who said you can't have a good time in your own?" He slurred, giggling to himself as he gingerly set the bottle back on the coffee table. Of course, he set the bottle down much harder than he thought he had. He had been too busy giggling at the small spill to notice he had placed the bottle more over the edge than on the actual table.

"Shit!" He hissed as his lack of attention resulted in the rest of his scotch spilling on to his carpet.

Giles lifted up the practically empty bottle and stared at the large dark spot from the liquor. After setting the bottle on the floor, he leaned forward and grabbed his glass. With a quick glance to the clock, the Watcher shrugged and downed the rest of the amber liquid.

"You're really drinking alone on New Years?" Giles closed his eyes and sighed at the sound of the Slayer's voice.

"What I chose to do is none of your business, Buffy."

He could just imagine the look on her face as he attempted to put the now empty glass on the table, not caring if it fell or not. He pushed himself to his feet and waited until the room stopped spinning.

"How much have you had to drink?" Buffy asked as she walked over to him.

"Enough to be able to talk to you with no bitterness."

"What?"

He turned to look at her and blinked a few times until his eyes focused on her. He opened his mouth to respond when he suddenly closed it. Giles narrowed his eyes as he swallowed, hoping the sudden churning in his stomach would go away.

"I need to sit down." He muttered before dropping back on to the couch.

"You're drunk."

"I'm so glad I have you here to make such astute observations, luv. How have I ever survived without you?" Giles remarked as he leaned his head back against the couch.

He was sure Buffy said something, but he was too focused on making the room stay still to pay attention. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to fight back the nausea that was still making an appearance. He felt the cushion next to him dip.

"Why did you leave early?"

A soft groan left Giles as he let his head roll towards the Slayer's voice. He forced his eyes to open and ran a hand over his face, narrowing his eyes when his face felt prickly under the pressure of his hand. The Watcher shook his head and swallowed a few times before pushing himself forward.

"Giles?" He felt her hand between his shoulder blades.

Without a word, Giles stood up and stumbled his way towards his bathroom. He dropped to his knees once he reached the toilet and lifted the lid just in time. The sound of his retching filled the tiled room. Giles couldn't remember the last time he had drank enough to actually vomit.

During his time puking, he was acutely aware that Buffy was at his side the whole time.

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11:37pm.

Giles groaned as he leaned against the wall of the bathroom, closing his eyes. His head was pounding, his throat was raw, and he couldn't really recall what had happened after ten o'clock. And he was also sure that he wouldn't recall most of the night once the morning came.

“You need to drink this,” his head was pushed back and something was shoved up to his lips.

He sputtered and coughed as soon as he felt something cool touch his tongue. Once he was done, the glass was shoved to his lips again, only this time he was ready to swallow whatever it was. This went on for a few moments before Giles heard the sound of running water. He forced himself to focus on the other person in the room with him, narrowing his eyes when he saw the Slayer.

“What are you doing here?” he mumbled.

“I get that you’re drunk, but this is the sixth time you’ve asked me that.” Buffy said as she kneeled in front of him and handed him the glass in her hand. “Think you can drink this on your own now?”

He shook his head and pushed the glass away.

“Not thirsty.” He mumbled. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

Giles watched as Buffy took the glass. When he was sure she wouldn’t try and give it back to him, he leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

“I’m here because you left the party,” she explained and passed the still full glass back to him. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he drained half the glass in one swallow. He forced his head to lift enough to look at her. There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other, Giles slowly finishing the water. The Slayer sighed and moved to sit on the tile instead of kneeling on it.

“Giles, are you okay?” she asked, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice.

“Am I okay?” Giles let out a bitter laugh and looked at the empty glass in his hands. “Would you be okay if you had to watch the person you love flaunt a new relationship in your face all night?”

“Giles, what are you talking about?”

“You, Buffy. You and that bloke you started shagging barely a month after our relationship ended.” He set the glass down and looked up at her. “I was perfectly okay with knowing about it, and…and…and hearing about all the time you two spent together. But…seeing the woman I’m in love with so much happier with someone else…”

He shook his head and quickly pushed himself to his feet, leaning against the wall until his legs felt steady enough to walk.

“You, um…you should get back. I’m sure you’d rather bring in the New Year with your new boyfriend then spend it with me.”

“Giles, that isn’t…”

He ran his fingers through his hair and pushed himself off the wall, stumbling slightly until he found his footing. He didn’t need to hear Buffy try to downplay her new relationship. What he did need was to go to sleep and try to pretend that he hadn’t just told her he was still in love with her. Giles didn’t care if she was following him or not. He was just focused on getting to his bedroom.

“Giles, stop.” That answered his question if Buffy was following him.

“Goodnight, Buffy.”

He didn't even look at her as he walked into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He struggled out of his clothes, leaving just his boxer shorts on. The Watcher fell on to his bed and snuggled into his pillow. He was considering looking at his alarm clock to see the time when he heard the loud cheers from his partying neighbors. He fell asleep with some small satisfaction that he had made it to the New Year after all.

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It was the blinding brightness that woke Giles up, causing him to pull the duvet completely over him in his quest to escape the too bright light. The pounding in his head wasn’t going to go away anytime soon- he knew that from past experiences. Taking a deep breath, he threw off the covers and sat up. He squinted as he looked around his bedroom, shielding his eyes as he looked to the window. Of course he had fallen asleep without drawing the curtains.

Against his better judgment, Giles pushed himself off of his bed and searched for something to wear. Not feeling up to actually venturing out of his flat for the day, he settled for a pair of sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. Of course he didn’t feel like leaving his bed, but he knew it would do him no good to stay in bed all day. Running his fingers through his hair, Giles made his way out of his bedroom.

He was about to enter the bathroom when the smell of eggs caught his attention. He stood in the middle of the hallway, sniffing a few more times to make sure that he actually had smelt eggs. After confirming the scent, the Watcher slowly crept towards the kitchen. He didn’t remember bringing anyone back to his flat with him the previous night. But then again, he didn’t remember much. The only thing he remembered was the dream he had of Buffy forcing him to drink water as he vomited into the toilet before admitting he was still in love with her.

“Thank God for small miracles,” he muttered at the memory of the dream. The last thing he needed was telling his Slayer that he still loved her while bent over the toilet.

Of course, that still didn’t explain the smell of eggs at…Giles paused to look at the clock on his living room wall once he realized he didn’t know what time it was. He let out a small groan when he saw it was 10:43. He hated sleeping in, even though he knew he tended to sleep in much later after a night of heavy drinking. The sound of humming brought him back out of his thoughts and reminded him of his task to see who was in his flat.

He stopped walking as soon as he saw Buffy moving around the kitchen, humming to some pop tune that was softly playing on the radio. Giles stood there as he watched her prepare what he knew were scrambled eggs, a plate of toast on the kitchen island.

“Eat the toast and drink that water. Then I’ll give you the eggs.” Buffy instructed, her back still facing him.

“I’m not hungry,” he muttered even as he sat at the island, swallowing the three aspirin pills she had set out for him.

“I don’t feel like cleaning your vomit from the bathroom again. So eat.” This time she turned to face him, pointing at the plate. “And make sure you drink all of your water.”

His hand paused halfway to the toast at the mention of vomit. He continued to stare at her as he realized that his very vivid dream wasn’t a dream. He really had made a complete fool of himself in front of her.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered as he buried his face in his hands.

“How much of last night do you remember?” she asked as she set a small plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

“Most of it.” He said as he took a small bite of his toast. “Unfortunately.”

Silence settled over them as the Watcher picked at his toast, occasionally drinking the water. He watched Buffy clean up from making his breakfast. A small part of him hoped that he had dreamed about telling her he was still in love  
with her, and if he had actually told her then he hoped she wouldn’t say anything if he didn’t bring it up. Giles pushed his toast away when only the crust was left and pulled the small plate of scrambled eggs closer to him.

“I’m not seeing Philip,” her voice shattered the illusion that the morning would pass without the conversation from last night being brought up.

“What?” he asked, hoping he could play stupid to get out of the impending embarrassment.

“Last night, you said that I started sleeping with Philip a month after we broke up.” She clarified, her back still facing him. “My relationship with Philip…”

“I don’t really want to hear what your relationship with him is, Buffy.” Giles cut her off, pushing the egg around on his plate with his fork.

“No, you do need to hear this.”

His head shot up at his Slayer’s sharp tone. He closed his eyes against the pounding in his head that his movement had caused. Buffy must have been waiting for him to gain his composure because she didn’t say anything until he had opened his eyes again.

“I’ve never slept with Philip, or gone on any dates with him, or anything in a romantic capacity.” She was facing him now, and he could swear that he saw a flash of hurt in her eyes. “Even if I was with Philip, I wouldn’t have started a relationship so soon after we ended. You mean more to me than that.”

“Meant. I meant more to you,” he corrected as he looked back down at his untouched eggs.

“You’re the one who broke up with me, Giles. My feelings never changed,” he kept his mouth closed when it looked like she was going to continue. “I was ready to marry you, and then you went and ended our relationship with no reason.”

“I gave you a reason, Buffy.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Your reason was that I should be with someone younger.” She said with an eye roll. “We were together for three years, Giles. I didn’t want someone younger. All I wanted was you, all I still want is you.”

Giles looked up at her and swallowed. He wasn’t sure if this was the Powers that Be giving him a second chance or some cruel trick designed to break his heart, either way he wasn’t sure if he could risk it. He was elated to know that Buffy’s feelings for him hadn’t changed, but he knew that didn’t mean she wanted another relationship with him. He must have been staring for too long because his Slayer broke the silence again.

“Did you mean it?” she asked softly.

He narrowed his eyes, not sure what she was talking about. He almost smiled at the eye roll she always did whenever she thought he was being a little thick.

“When you said you’re still in love with me, did you mean it?” Buffy clarified, her stare somehow preventing him from looking away. “If you’re going to say no, then don’t say anything and we can pretend you didn’t say anything.”

“What if I said yes?” he asked as soon as she stopped talking, not wanting her to think he hadn’t meant anything he said.

She just looked at him, surprise on her face. Without saying anything, Giles stood up and walked over to Buffy. A moment passed as he looked at her, trying to see if she meant what she had said.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?” he asked once he was sure she had been telling him the truth.

Her answering smile was all he needed.


End file.
